City reaches major milestone in LRT construction

The northern leg of the LRT is one step closer to completion, after crews finished tunneling the line to NAIT.

City of Edmonton officials said crews have been working around the clock since January – digging twin tunnels between 105 Avenue and Churchill Station.

Representatives from all levels of government were present when crews broke through the wall at Churchill Station Friday morning.

The city said in addition to finishing the tunnel, crews also worked on construction of a track for the North LRT, and built the foundations for the Grant MacEwan/Kingsway/Royal Alex and NAIT LRT stations.

The development of those stations will continue throughout the winter.

The $755 million project was funded by the federal, provincial and municipal governments – with the Government of Canada putting in $100 million from the Building Canada Fund, the province contributed $497 million in GreenTRIP funding and the City of Edmonton spent $158 million on the project.

The LRT is expected to start running on the new line in 2014.

Photos

On Friday, November 16, crews broke through the wall at the Churchill LRT Station.

This illustration shows where the North leg of the LRT will run once it's completed. Supplied.